STELLARTON, NOVA SCOTIA - The latest performance update has come in from Sobeys parent company Empire Company Limited. The company’s President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Medline discussed the details of the retailer’s quarter four 2024 performance, sharing some insights into its overall strategy.
"I am pleased with the way our team is executing our strategy despite the currently inhospitable economic backdrop," said Medline. "Our results this quarter clearly demonstrate that we have become a disciplined, efficient grocer with strong gross margin control as well as capital and SG&A discipline, propelled by our productivity initiatives and restructuring. When you remove our real estate-related income, quarterly results were consistent with the prior year. We are committed to driving profits, including taking proactive steps to improve the bottom-line results of Voilà. At the same time, we remain committed to returning capital to our investors.”
For its fourth quarter of 2024, Empire reported net earnings of $148.9 million, along with a 0.2 percent increase in same-store sales, excluding fuel.
Sharing insights into its strategy, the company plans to focus on accelerated investments in renovations, conversions, new stores, processes, communications, training, technology, and tools. Empire is currently on track with its plan to renovate approximately 20 percent to 25 percent of the network between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026.
The retailer is also placing an enhanced focus on digital and data, announcing plans for continued e-commerce growth with Voilà, personalization, loyalty, through Scene+, improved space productivity, and the continued improvement of promotional optimization. As a press release stated, the company is pursuing cost savings in the Voilà business by pausing the opening of its fourth Customer Fulfillment Center and ending its mutual exclusivity with Ocado, among other initiatives.
"We remain very optimistic about our Voilà business today as reflected in its strong Q4 same-store sales growth of 17.3 percent and are confident and committed in its future success," Medline added. "We continue to look at every opportunity to improve our overall profitability and each Voilà CFC takes time to become profitable; as a result, we will pause the opening of our fourth customer fulfillment center in Vancouver, allowing us to focus on driving performance and volume in our three active CFCs. We are also working with our partner, Ocado, to decrease costs and provide increased flexibility to serve our customers more broadly, which includes ending our mutual exclusivity agreement."
Read the results in full here, and keep clicking on ANUK for more retail updates.
